Soc Chapter 1 – Flashcards
Unlock all answers in this set
Unlock answersquestion
Social Perspective
answer
Understanding human behavior by placing it within its broader social context
question
Society
answer
People who share a culture and a territory
question
Social Location
answer
The group memberships that people have because of their location in history and society
question
Sociology
answer
The study of society and human behavior
question
Science
answer
The application of systematic methods to obtain knowledge and the knowledge obtained by those methods
question
Natural Sciences
answer
The intellectual and academic disciplines designed to comprehend, explain, and predict events in our natural environments
question
Social Sciences
answer
The intellectual and academic disciplines designed to understand the social world objectively by means of controlled and repeated observations
question
Anthropology
answer
Social science that focuses on tribal peoples, with a chief goal to understand culture, a people's total way of life
question
Economics
answer
Social Science that concentrates on a single social institution. The study of the production and distribution of the material goods and services of a society
question
Political Science
answer
Social Science that focuses on politics and government, and examines how governments are formed, how they operate, and how they are related to other institutions of society
question
Psychology
answer
Social Science that focuses on the process that occur within the individual, inside what they call the "skin-bound organism"
question
Generalization
answer
A statement that goes beyond the individual case and is applied to a broader group or situation
question
Patterns
answer
Recurring characteristics
question
Predict
answer
To specify in the light of current knowledge what will happen in the future
question
Common Sense
answer
The prevailing ideas in a society, the things that "everyone knows" are true
question
Three Main Events That Emerged Sociology
answer
The Industrial Revolution, The social upheaval of the political revolution, and the imperialism of the time
question
Scientific Method
answer
The use of objective, systematic observations to test theories
question
Auguste Comte
answer
He is known as the founder of sociology. He suggested that we apply the scientific method to the social world, a process known as positivism
question
Positivism
answer
The application of the scientific approach to the social world
question
Herbert Spencer
answer
He is referred to as the "second founder of sociology". Coined the principle, "the survival of the fittest" or "social Darwinism"
question
Social Darwinism
answer
Also known as "the survival of the fittest". Herbert Spencer's idea that as generations pass, a society's most "fittest" survive, while the less capable members die out
question
Karl Marx
answer
One of the three greatest modern thinkers who coined the terms class conflict and the conflict theory. He was also a believer in social change.
question
Class Conflict
answer
Marx's term for the struggle between capitalists and workers
question
Bourgeoisie
answer
Marx's term for capitalists, those who own the means of production
question
Proletariat
answer
Marx's term for the exploited class, the mass of workers who do not own the means of production
question
Social Integration
answer
The degree to which members of a group or a society feel united by shared values and other social bonds; also known as cohesion
question
Conflict Theory
answer
A theory propounded by Karl Marx that claims society is in a state of perpetual conflict due to competition for limited resources; holds that social order is maintained by domination and power, rather than consensus and conformity
question
Emile Durkheim
answer
He coined the term "social integration" and found that people are more likely to commit suicide if their ties to others in their communities are weak; noted that human behavior should be understood in terms of the social forces that affect people's lives, rather than in terms of the individual
question
Patterns of Behavior
answer
Recurring behaviors, characteristics, or events
question
Max Weber
answer
German sociologist that regarded the development of rational social orders as humanity's greatest achievement. Saw bureaucratization (the process whereby labor is divided into an organized community and individuals acquire a sense of personal identity by finding roles for themselves in large systems) as the driving force in modern society
question
Value Free
answer
The view that a sociologist's personal values or beliefs should not influence social research
question
Values
answer
The standards by which people define what is desirable or undesirable, good or bad, beautiful or ugly
question
Objectivity
answer
Value neutrality in research
question
Replication
answer
The repetition of a study in order to test its findings
question
Verstechen
answer
A German word used by Weber that is best understood as "to have insight into someone's situation"
question
Subjective Meanings
answer
How people interpret their situation in life, the meanings that people give their own behavior
question
Social Facts
answer
Durkheim's term for a group's patterns of behavior
question
W.E.B Du Bois
answer
He was the first African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard; studied relations between African Americans and Whites; one of the founders of the NAACP
question
Jane Adams
answer
She was a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize; founder of Hull-House w/ Ellen Gates Starr; worked on behalf of poor immigrants
question
Robert Park & Ernest Burgess
answer
These two studied crime, drug addiction, juvenile delinquency, and prostitution; offered suggestions for how to alleviate these social problems
question
Talcott Parsons
answer
He developed abstract models of society to show how parts of society works together harmoniously that influenced a generation of sociologists
question
C. Wright Mills
answer
He was a controversial figure in sociology; analyzed the role of the power elite in the U.S society, warned that the power elite faced the nation with an imminent threat to freedom
question
Basic Sociology
answer
Also known as Pure Sociology; sociological research for the purpose of making discoveries about life in human groups, not for making changes in those groups
question
Applied Sociology
answer
The use of sociology to solve problems in business, the workplace, and others
question
Public Sociology
answer
Applying sociology for the public good; harnessing the sociological perspective for the benefit of the public
question
Theory
answer
A general statement about how some parts of the world get together and how they work; an explanation of how two or more facts are related to one another
question
Sociology's Three Major Theories
answer
Symbolic Interactionism, Functional Analysis, and Conflict Theory
question
Symbols
answer
Things to which we attach meaning
question
Symbolic Interactionism
answer
A theoretical perspective in which society is viewed as composed of symbols that people use to establish meaning, develop their views of the world, and communicate with one another
question
George Herbert Mead & Charles Horton Cooley
answer
The two major sociologists who developed Symbolic Interactionism
question
Functional Analysis
answer
A theoretical framework in which society is viewed as composed of various parts, each with a function that, when fulfilled, contributes to society's equilibrium; also known as functionalism and structural functionalism
question
Robert K. Merton
answer
He was a major proponent of functionalism, one of the main theoretical perspectives in sociology
question
Functions
answer
The beneficial consequences of people's actions' help keep a group in balance
question
Dysfunctions
answer
The harmful consequences of people's actions; undermine a system's equilibrium
question
Manifest Function
answer
Intended and recognized consequences of an aspect of society
question
Latent Functions
answer
Unintended consequences that help a system adjust
question
Latent dysfunctions
answer
Unintended consequences of human actions that can hurt a system
question
Conflict Theory
answer
A theoretical framework developed by Karl Marx in which society is viewed as composed of groups that are competing for scarce resources
question
Bourgeoisie
answer
The small group of capitalists who own the means to produce wealth
question
Proletariat
answer
The mass of workers who are exploited by the bourgeoisie
question
Macro-Level Analysis
answer
An examination of large-scale patterns of society; such as how Wall Street and the political establishment are interrelated
question
Micro-Level Analysis
answer
An examination of small-scale patterns of society; such as how members of a group interact
question
Social Interaction
answer
What people do when they are in one another's presence; also includes communications at a distance
question
Nonverbal Interaction
answer
Gestures, uses of space
question
First Stage of Sociology
answer
Lasted until the 1920s; the primary purpose of sociological research was to improve society
question
Second Stage of Sociology
answer
From the 1920s until World War II; the main concern of sociology switched to developing abstract knowledge
question
Third Stage of Sociology
answer
From World War II - Present; sociologists seek ways to apply their research findings
question
Globalization
answer
The breaking down of national boundaries because of advances in communications, trade, and travel
question
Globalization of Capitalism
answer
Capitalism becoming the world's dominant economic system
